INTRODUCTION
The first marine amphipod inventory of the Algerian coast was provided by Chevreux (Reference Chevreux1911) who recorded 117 species along the Algerian coast. Later, Bakalem & Dauvin (Reference Bakalem and Dauvin1995) compiled the first complete inventory of the benthic marine amphipod on the Algerian coast, accounting 253 species. Quantitative surveys made between 1995 and 2001 along the entire Algerian coast permitted to add 45 new amphipod species from ten bays from the Marocco frontiers to the Tunisian frontiers (Figure 1)(Grimes et al., Reference Grimes, Dauvin and Ruellet2009).
Fig. 1. Location of the sampling sites. Black circles, new prospected sites—the Beni Saf, Rachgoun and Habibas Islands in the Oran Bay and from the Chenoua–Kouali area in the western part of Bou Ismail Bay. Grimes et al. (Reference Grimes, Dauvin and Ruellet2009) sites: 1. Ghazaouet Bay; 2. Oran Bay; 3.Arzew Bay; 4. Bou Ismail Bay; 5. Algiers Bay; 6. Béjaïa Bay; 7. Jijel Bay; 8. Skikda Bay; 9. Annaba Bay; and 10. El Kala Bay.
In this paper we report the results of recent fieldwork made along the Algerian littoral in two main areas of the western part of the Algerian coast, from the Beni Saf, Rachgoun and Habibas Islands in the Oran Bay, the Arzew Bay and from Chenoua–Kouali area in the western part of the Bou Ismail Bay, respectively (Figure 1). These new samplings permitted collection of 33 marine benthic amphipod species which had not been reported before (Chevreux, Reference Chevreux1911; Bakalem & Dauvin, Reference Bakalem and Dauvin1995; Grimes et al., Reference Grimes, Dauvin and Ruellet2009). For each species, data on the substratum type and the depth at which they were found are given. Then, ecological and biogeographical annotations are given for each species.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The fauna were sorted and identified (when possible) to the species taxonomic level, using the keys of Mediterranean amphipod fauna established by Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982, Reference Ruffo1989, Reference Ruffo1993, Reference Ruffo1998). The taxonomy was validated using the ERMS reference for amphipods introduced by Bellan-Santini & Costello (Reference Bellan-Santini and Costello2001), which was consulted on 24 April 2013 and 28 October 2013. Between these dates, was the introduction of the new phylogeny and classification of Amphipoda by Lowry & Myers (Reference Lowry and Myers2013), with the creation of a suborder among the Amphipoda: the Senticaudata. So the 2013 classification was taken into account in this paper. Table 1 gives the main information about the sampling locations and years which permitted the identification of new amphipod species for the Algerian coast. Three main habitats were sampled: soft-bottoms and Posidonia oceanica meadows with the Van Veen and Smith–McIntyre grabs and hard bottoms with manual sampling by autonomous diver (Table 1).
Table 1. Main information about the sampling locations and sampling period; number of stations per sampling locations, range of depth sampling, sampling gear and sampling surface per location (m2).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The new records (ind. for individual; and st. for station) for Algerian coast are:
Suborder SENTICAUDATA
Family CAPRELLIDAE
Caprella grandimana (Mayer, 1882)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
3 ind. st. 16(1), 1 ind. st. 17(1), 2 ind. st. 18(1) and 2 ind. st 18(3) for a total of 8 ind. from the Chenoua–Kouali area. The species found in several types of substratum: on hard bottoms with Cystoseira algae (0 m), in the Cymodocea and Zostera meadows (0.3 m), on gravel and pebble within outcrops of hard bottoms (0.5–1 m), and in the Posidonia oceanica meadows (20–21 m).
LOCATION
In the Amphipoda of the Mediterranean, Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) considered C. grandimana as a Mediterranean endemic species recorded in both eastern and western basins among algae (0–10 m). Then, the species was recorded on the Atlantic African Coast from Cap Spartel to Cap Blanc (Ruffo et al., Reference Ruffo1998; Guerra-Garcia et al., Reference Guerra-Garcia, Sanchez-Moyano and Garcia-Gomez2000). It was very abundant in the seaweed Stypocaulon scoparium of Strait of Gibraltar (Guerra-Garcia et al., Reference Guerra-García, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Espinosa and García-Gómez2009). Guerra-Garcia & Takeuchi (Reference Guerra-Garcia and Takeuchi2002) reported the species on hard bottoms mainly composed of the seaweeds Cystoseira usneoides, Asparagopsis armata, Cladostephus verticillatus and Haopteris scoparia and the hydroid Sertularella gayi. Later, Guerra-Garcia et al. (Reference Guerra-García, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Espinosa and García-Gómez2009) and Guerra-Garcia & Izquierdo (Reference Guerra-García and Izquierdo2010) confirmed the presence of C. grandimana in the Atlantic, probably occasional and restricted to localities within the influence of the Strait of Gibraltar; for the authors this species remained clearly an endemic Mediterranean species. Soler-Hurtado & Guerra-Garcia (Reference Soler-Hurtado and Guerra-Garcia2011) reported that the species was strictly associated with the algae Asparagopsis armata on the Iberian coasts from the Strait of Gibraltar. However, Vazquez-Luis et al. (Reference Vázquez-Luis, Borg, Sanchez-Jerez, Png, Carvallo and Bayle-Sempere2009) recorded C. grandimana in shallow waters invaded by the algae Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea. Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaıer and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2008, Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009) reported that C. grandimana was one of the dominant crustacean species found in association with the algae Corallina elongata in the Raf Raf area (Tunisian coast).
Caprella hirsuta Mayer, 1890
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 15(6), 3 ind. st. 16(8), 1 ind. st. 17(1), 2 ind. st. 18(3), 15 ind. st. 21(5), 1 ind. st. 25(1) and 2 ind. st. 32(7) for a total of 23 ind. recorded in the Cystoseira algae (0 m), hard bottoms with other algae (0–5 m), in the Mediterranean vermetid gastropod platform (0.3–2 m), and in the Posidonia oceanica meadows (9–1 m).
LOCATION
Considered as a Mediterranean endemic species (Ruffo et al., Reference Ruffo1993, Reference Ruffo1998) C. hirsuta has been reported on the Atlantic African coast from Cap Spartel to Cap Blanc (Guerra-Garcia et al., Reference Guerra-Garcia, Sanchez-Moyano and Garcia-Gomez2000). Guerra-Garcia & Takeuchi (Reference Guerra-Garcia and Takeuchi2002) considered that the species was rarely collected on hard bottoms mainly composed of the algae Cystoseira usneoides, Asparagopsis armata, Cladostephus verticillatus and Haopteris scoparia and the hydroid Sertularella gay, while Guerra-Garcia et al. (Reference Guerra-García, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Espinosa and García-Gómez2009, Reference Guerra-García, Ros, Gordillo, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Izquierdo, Corzo, Domínguez and Varona2010) and Guerra-Garcia & Izquierdo (Reference Guerra-García and Izquierdo2010) showed that it was very abundant in the algae Stypocaulon scoparium and Corallina elongata from the Strait of Gibraltar. Soler-Hurtado & Guerra-Garcia (Reference Soler-Hurtado and Guerra-Garcia2011) noted that the species was associated with the algae Asparagopsis armata on the Iberian coasts of the Strait of Gibraltar. Vazquez-Luis et al. (Reference Vázquez-Luis, Borg, Sanchez-Jerez, Png, Carvallo and Bayle-Sempere2009) recorded C. hirsuta in shallow waters invaded by the algae Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea and Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaıer and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2008, Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009) collected this species along the Tunisian coast on hard bottoms among the algae C. elongata. Christodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013) reported this species from the Aegean Sea, always among the algae Corallina elongata.
Caprella hirsuta is common on epifauna such as the cirripeds Balanus, hydroids and algae from 0–30 m deep. The species prefers habitats with abundant detritus (Guerra-Garcia et al., Reference Guerra-Garcia, Sanchez-Moyano and Garcia-Gomez2000; Vazquez-Luis et al., Reference Vázquez-Luis, Borg, Sanchez-Jerez, Png, Carvallo and Bayle-Sempere2009), and specimens from the Strait of Gibraltar are usually sediment-covered (Guerra-García et al., Reference Guerra-Garcia, Sanchez-Moyano and Garcia-Gomez2000).
Caprella penantis Leach, 1814
MATERIAL EXAMINED
3 ind. st. 32(7) on hard bottoms with algae at 5 m depth from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
This cosmopolitan species lives on algae and Posidonia meadows, and a variety of sessile species (Cnidarians, Bryozoans and Sponges) (McCain, Reference Mccain1968; Ruffo et al., Reference Ruffo1993; Díaz et al., Reference Díaz, Guerra-García and Martín2005). Guerra-Garcia & Garcia-Gomez (Reference Guerra-Garcia and Garcia-Gomez2001) found this species in the harbour of Ceuta (Strait of Gibraltar) in high hydrodynamics areas while Guerra-Garcia & Takeuchi (Reference Guerra-Garcia and Takeuchi2002) reported abundant populations on hard bottoms mainly composed of the algae Cystoseira usneoides, Asparagopsis armata, Cladostephus verticillatus, Haopteris scoparia and the hydroid Sertularella gayi. Guerra-Garcia et al. (Reference Guerra-García, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Espinosa and García-Gómez2009, Reference Guerra-García, Ros, Gordillo, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Izquierdo, Corzo, Domínguez and Varona2010) and Guerra-Garcia & Izquierdo (Reference Guerra-García and Izquierdo2010) showed that C. penantis was associated with the algae Stypocaulon scoparium and Corallina elongata restricted to the Atlantic stations and the Strait of Gibraltar; Soler-Hurtado & Guerra-Garcia (Reference Soler-Hurtado and Guerra-Garcia2011) reported that the species was associated with the algae Asparagopsis armata, and this species was one of the most common crustacean species collected along the Atlantic Iberian coasts and in the Strait of Gibraltar. On the Tunisian coast Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaıer and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2008, Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009) collected this species on hard bottoms among Posidonia oceanica meadows, while Kitsos et al. (Reference Kitsos, Christodoulou, Arvanitidis, Mavidis, Kirmitzoglou and Koukouras2005) and Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009) reported the association of C. penantis with the sea turtle Caretta caretta in the Aegean Sea and along the Tunisian coast.
Caprella rapax Mayer, 1890
MATERIAL EXAMINED
3 ind. st. 16(2), 1 ind. st. 16(1) and 2 ind. st. 16(4) from the Chenoua–Kouali on hard bottoms with algae and muddy sand (0.5 m) and on sand with Posidonia oceanica meadows (21 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993, Reference Ruffo1998) reported this Mediterranean endemic species mainly found as endopsammic in coarse sand in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy) and the Atantic Iberian coast; it was also recorded from Ceuta (Strait of Gibraltar) by Guerra-Garcia & Takeuchi (Reference Guerra-Garcia and Takeuchi2002). Later Christodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013) collected this species in the Aegean Sea. Gonzalez et al. (Reference Gonzalez, Guerra-Garcıa, Maestre, Ruiz-Tabares, Espinosa, Gordillo, Sanchez-Moyano and Garcıa-Gomez2008) showed that C. rapax was a characteristic species of Posidonia oceanica meadows.
Deutella schieckei Cavedini, 1982
MATERIAL EXAMINED
10 ind. st. IH97/22 on a deep station (84 m) on coarse sand and gravel with shell debris from the Habibas Islands, offshore Oran.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) reported this Mediterranean endemic species on shallow hard bottom with algae (3–7 m). Guerra-Garcia et al. (Reference Guerra-García, Cabezas, Baeza-Rojano, Espinosa and García-Gómez2009) showed D. schieckei was associated with the seaweed Stypocaulon scoparium from some Mediterranean stations of the Strait of Gibraltar. Vazquez-Luis et al. (Reference Vázquez-Luis, Borg, Sanchez-Jerez, Png, Carvallo and Bayle-Sempere2009) reported D. schieckei in shallow waters invaded by Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea in Posidonia beds. Along the Spanish Mediterranean coasts, this species had been only reported from algae in shallow waters (Jimeno & Turon, Reference Jimeno and Turón1995; Box et al., Reference Box, Guerra-Garcıa and Deudero2006; Vazquez-Luis et al., Reference Vázquez-Luis, Borg, Sanchez-Jerez, Png, Carvallo and Bayle-Sempere2009) while around the Tunisian coast, Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaıer and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2008) reported D. schieckei on Posidonia oceanica meadows on three sites of the Tunisian coast (Tabarka, Bizerte and Raf Raf).
Family AMPITHOIDAE
Cymadusa crassicornis (A. Costa, 1857)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
3 ind. st. 16(3) from Chenoua–Kouali area. The species was found on hard bottoms with algae and Cystoseira spp. and Cymadocea meadows (0.7 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this species from the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Red Sea in the infralittoral algae.
Family BOGIDIELLIDAE
Marinobogidiella tyrrhenica (Schiecke, 1979)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 28(7) on hard bottoms with sand (2 m) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this species as a Mediterranean endemic species recorded in the Tyrrhenian Sea on coarse sand at 6 m depth.
Family CHEIROCRATIDAE
Degocheirocratus spani G. Karaman, 1985
MATERIAL EXAMINED
19 stations (from 1 to 11 ind. per st.) at depths included between 19 and 63 m on mud and muddy sand from the Rachgoun Island, offshore Oran.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1998) reported this Mediterranean endemic species from the Adriatic Sea on muddy bottoms at depths around 100 m.
Family DOGIELINOTIDAE
Parhyalella richardi (Chevreux, 1902)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 22(1) in the Mediterranean vermetid gastropoda platform (0.2 m) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Menioui & Ruffo (Reference Menioui and Ruffo1988) had reported this species from the Mediterranean Moroccan coast among the algae Ulva rigida and considered that it was rare in the Mediterranean Sea. Latter, Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) reported P. richardi present in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in the littoral zone between stones and Posidonia litter.
Family GAMMARIDAE
Echinogammarus foxi (Schellenberg, 1928)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 1, 2 ind. st. 2 for a total of 3 ind. from the Arzew Bay (16 and 20 m depth) on coarse sand and gravel.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported E. foxi as a Mediterranean endemic species occurring in brackish coastal lagoons. Dauvin & Bellan-Santini (Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002) considered the species as Mediterranean endemic living in sub-tropical warm waters.
Echinogammarus stocki Karaman, 1969
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 1 in a shallow station (16 m depth) on coarse sand and gravel from the Arzew Bay.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported E. stocki as a Mediterranean endemic species living under stones in shallow waters (0–1 m depth) in area under freshwater influence. Dauvin & Bellan-Santini (Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002) considered the species as a Mediterranean endemic species living in sub-tropical warm waters.
Rhipidogammarus rhipidiophorus (Catta, 1878)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. on a deep (80 m) coarse sand and gravel with shell debris station (IH97/27) from the Habibas Islands offshore Oran.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported R. rhipidiophorus as a Mediterranean endemic species living under stones in shallow waters (0 m) in area under freshwater influence and in brackish waters. Dauvin & Bellan-Santini (Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002) considered the species as a Mediterranean endemic species living in sub-tropical warm waters.
Family ISCHYROCERIDAE
Erichtonius argenteus Krapp-Schickel, 1993
MATERIAL EXAMINED
2 ind. st. 19(2), 2 ind. st. 20(2-1), 10 ind. st. 21(5), 4 ind. st. 21(4), 2 ind. st. 28(5) and 5 ind. st. 30/31(21), for a total of 25 ind. from the Chenoua–Kouali area at 3–16 m depth, on shallow hard bottoms with algae (3–4 m), Posidonia oceanica meadows (16 m) and fine sand with rock outcrops and Posidonia oceanica meadows (13–15 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1998) reported this Mediterranean endemic species from the Greek coasts among algae (Cystoseira spp.) in shallow waters (0 m).
Erichtonius difformis Milne-Edwards, 1830
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 20(2-1), 1 individual st. 29(3) and 1 individual st. 30/31(2bis) from the Chenoua–Kouali area on hard bottoms with Posidonia oceanica meadows (4 m), hard bottoms with algae mainly Cystoseira spp. (2–3 m), and sand with rock outcrops and Posidonia oceanica meadows (14–15 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1998) reported this Atlantic, Mediterranean species associated generally with Zostera and Posidonia meadows (0–15 m). Ortiz & Petrescu (Reference Ortiz and Petrescu2007) collected E. difformis on the Libyan coast, at 95 m depth on coarse/medium sand with gravels and maerl. Latter, Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaıer and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2008, Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009) reported this species on hard and sandy bottoms among algae and Posidonia oceanica meadows along the Tunisian coast.
Microjassa cumbrensis (Stebbing & Robertson, 1891)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
3 ind. st. 25(1) on hard bottoms with algae at 2 m depth from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1989) reported M. cumbrensis from the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea from infralittoral to circalittoral depths among algae and on fine sand (22–40 m). Conradi & Lopez-Gonzalez (Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999) had collected M. cumbrensis in the Strait of Gibraltar along the Iberian Peninsula among the algae Codium vermimara and on the Bryozoans Bugula neritana.
Family MAERIDAE
Elasmopus vachoni Mateus & Mateus, 1966
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 16(8), 33 ind. st. 17(1), 1 ind. st. 17(2), 3 ind. st. 18(3), 1 ind. st; 21(4) and 2 ind. st. 27(5) for a total of 41 ind. of the Chenoua–Kouali area on hard bottoms with Cystoseira spp. (0–7 m) and in the Posidonia oceanica meadows (1–18 m).
LOCATION
Menoui & Ruffo (Reference Ruffo1989) had recorded E. vachoni associated with the algae Cystoseira stricta on Morocco Mediterranean coast and Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1998) reported the species from the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea (0–16 m) and also from the South Atlantic coast of Africa. Soler-Hurtado & Guerra-Garcia (Reference Soler-Hurtado and Guerra-Garcia2011) showed that the species was associated with the algae Asparagopsis armata on Iberian coasts (Strait of Gibraltar and Atlantic stations near the Strait).
Maera schieckei Karaman & Ruffo, 1971
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st 8(3) on a sandy and gravely bottom at 32 m depth in the Oran Bay.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) considered M. schieckei as a Mediterranean endemic species found in the Tyrrhenian Sea at depths from 40 to 75 m.
Family MELITIDAE
Abludomelita obtusata (Montagu, 1813)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. H3 from a mud station at 47 m depth in the Arzew Bay.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Atlantic and Mediterranean species from depth 0–20 m from Posidonia meadows; this species occurred in the Atlantic on various types of soft-sediment, mainly mud (Dauvin & Bellan-Santini, Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002).
Melita hergensis Reid, 1939
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 18(3) on Posidonia oceanica meadows (20–21 m) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Atlantic and Mediterranean species living at shallow waters depth (0–30 m), under stones, on sandy bottoms with Zostera or Posidonia oceanica. Vazquez-Luis et al. (Reference Vázquez-Luis, Borg, Sanchez-Jerez, Png, Carvallo and Bayle-Sempere2009) had recorded M. hergensis in shallow waters on hard bottoms invaded by Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea along the Mediterranean Iberian coasts.
Family MICROPROTOPIDAE
Microprotopus longimanus Chevreux, 1887
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 19(1) on shallow (1–2 m) hard bottoms with algae from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1989) reported this Atlantic and Mediterranean species on fine green epiphytic algae (depth 1–2 m).
Suborder GAMMARIDEA
Family AMPHILOCHIDAE
Gitana longicarpus Ledoyer, 1977
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 25(1). on hard bottom with sand (2 m) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Mediterranean endemic species for depth bathyal mud (320–360 m).
Family CRESSIDAE
Cressa mediterranea Ruffo, 1979
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. IH97/28 Habibas Islands on a deep (85 m) coarse sand and gravel with shell debris station and 1 ind. st. 15(2) on Posidonia oceanica meadows (21 m) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Mediterranean endemic species, from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the infralittoral zone among algae and Posidonia (3–15 m). Conradi & López-Gónzalez (Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999) collected in the Strait of Gibraltar on the bryozoans Bugula neritana.
Family CYPROIDEIDAE
Peltocoxa mediterranea Schiecke, 1977
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 30/31(1) on hard bottoms with algae and Posidonia oceanica meadows (15 m) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Mediterranean endemic species living in a various type of habitas as Posidonia meadows, hard bottom, sand, mud, and algae from 1 to 70 m depth. Menioui & Ruffo (Reference Menioui and Ruffo1988) sampled a juvenile in the Strait of Gibraltar among the algae Stypocaulon scoparium.
Family IPHIMEDIIDAE
Iphimedia brachygnatha Ruffo & Schiecke, 1979
MATERIAL EXAMINED
2 ind. st. 17(3), 17 ind. st. 20(3), 13 ind. st. 20(2-2), 3 ind. st. 21(4), 1 ind. st. 21(5), 5 ind. st. 24 (1), 1 ind. st. 27(5), 3 ind. st. 29(3), 1 ind. st. 30/31(3), 1 ind. st. 30/31(2) and 6 ind. st. 32(6) for a total of 53 specimens sampled in 11 stations from the Kouali–Chenoua area at depths between 2 and 18 m on hard bottoms with algae (2–12 m) and Posidonia oceanica meadows (6–18 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Mediterranean endemic species from the Western Basin and the Adriatic in infralittoral on hard bottoms among algae, sponges and polychaetes (5–20 m). Conradi & Lopez-Gonzalez (Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999) had collected I. brachygnatha in the Strait of Gibraltar among the algae Halopteris scorparia.
Iphimedia vicina Ruffo & Schiecke, 1979
MATERIAL EXAMINED
9 ind. st. 18(3), 1 ind. st. 20(6-1), 2 ind. st. 32(4) from the Chenoua–Kouali area; 1 ind. st. L2 from the Terga area near Beni Saf, and 1 ind. st. 1(1) from the Arzew Bay. The species was collected on Posidonia oceanica meadows (4–21 m) and hard bottoms with algae (25–26 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this Mediterranean endemic species on infralittoral on hard bottoms among algae, sponges, bryozoans or hydroids (10–45 m). Conradi & Lopez-Gonzalez (Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999) had collected I. vicina in the Strait of Gibraltar among the Bryozoans Bugula neritana.
Family LYSIANASSIDAE
Hippomedon bidentatus Chevreux, 1903
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 7 from a mud bottom at 70 m depth in the Arzew Bay.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1989) reported this Atlantic and Mediterranean species from muddy bottoms at depths from 60 to 2500 m.
Lepidepecreum crypticum Ruffo & Schiecke, 1977
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 2 on coarse sand and gravel at 21 m depth in the Oran Bay.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1989) reported this Mediterranean endemic species as endopsammic on shallow coarse sand (2–22 m). Conradi & López-Gónzalez (Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999) had found this species in the Strait of Gibraltar also in shallow coarse sand (19 m).
Family SOPHROSYNIDAE
Sophrosyne hispana (Chevreux, 1888)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
2 ind. st. 2(2) and 1 ind. st. 1 ind. st. 7(5) on deep (50 and 73 m) coarse sand and gravels from the Oran Bay.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1989) reported this Atlantic and Mediterranean species from sandy, muddy or detritic bottoms at depth from 100 to 500 m.
Family STEGOCEPHALIDAE
Stegocephaloides christianensis (Boeck, 1871)
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. IH97/RS and 2 ind. st. IH/23 on two deep (80 and 93 m) coarse sand and gravels with shell debris stations from the Habibas Islands, offshore Oran.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) reported this north-eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean species on deep muddy bottoms (90–1938 m). Ortiz & Petrescu (Reference Ortiz and Petrescu2007) had found this species on the Libyan coast at 80 m on coarse sand community with maerl and the algae Halimeda and Udotea.
Family STENOTHOIDAE
Stenothoe antennulariae Della Valle, 1893
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. IH97/22 on deep (84 m) coarse sand and gravel habitat from the Habibas Islands, offshore Oran.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) reported this Mediterranean endemic species from the Tyrrhenian Sea on hard bottom with Hydroids (50–80 m depth). Stefanidou & Voultsiadou-Koukoura (Reference Stefanidou and Voultsiadou-Koukoura1995) reported for the first time this species in the eastern Mediterranean Sea basin where the species was found in association with the Ascidians Ascidiella sp. on sandy silt (15–20 m depth).
Stenothoe elaschista Krapp-Schickel, 1975
MATERIAL EXAMINED
6 ind. st. 21(5), 1 ind. st. 28(7) and 1 ind. st. 30/31(2) from the Chenoua–Kouali area in three main habitats: hard bottoms with algae (2–3 m), Posidonia oceanica meadows and fine sand with rock outcrop and Posidonia oceanica meadows (14–15 m).
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) reported this Mediterranean endemic species from the Tyrrhenian Sea on coarse or fine sand (0.5–40 m depth).
Stenothoe gallensis Walker, 1904
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. 15(6). in the Mediterranean vermetid gastropoda platform (0–1 m depth) from the Chenoua–Kouali area.
LOCATION
Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1993) reported a cosmopolitan distribution for this species present in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Red Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea (0–20 m). It was commonly recorded in the upper littoral in algae with high hydrodynamics rarely in depths greater than 4 m. Conradi & López-Gónzalez (Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999) had found for the first time the species in the Strait of Gibraltar on muddy bottoms (depth 15 m). Reported as a lessepsian species (Dauvin & Bellan-Santini, Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002; Zakhama-Sraieb et al., Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009; Zakhama-Sraieb & Charfi-Cheikhrouka, Reference Zakhama-Sraieb and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2010), Christodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013) considered that S. gallensis should no longer be considered as a lessepsian migrant. Along the Tunisian coast S. gallensis was collected from Posidonia oceanica meadow on rocky habitats (Zakhama-Sraieb & Charfi-Cheikhrouka, Reference Zakhama-Sraieb and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2010, Zakhama et al., Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009). Soler-Hurtado & Guerra-Garcia (Reference Soler-Hurtado and Guerra-Garcia2011) had collected this species associated only with the algae Asparagopsis armata on the Iberian coasts of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Suborder HYPERIIDEA
Family PLATYSCELIDAE
Platyscelus serratulus Stebbing, 1888
MATERIAL EXAMINED
1 ind. st. IH97/RE on a deep (107 m) coarse sand and gravel with shell debris station from the Habibas Islands, offshore Oran.
LOCATION
Christodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013) reported for this planktonic species a cosmopolitan distribution.
Suborder SENTICAUDATA
Family PSEUDONIPHARGIDAE
Pseudoniphargus africanus Chevreux, Reference Chevreux1901
Described from Annaba material by Chevreux (Reference Chevreux1901), this species was found on the Stora beach (Skikda Bay) by Delamare Deboutteville (Reference Delamare Deboutteville1953). The species was not reported in the Bakalem & Dauvin (Reference Bakalem and Dauvin1995) and Grimes et al. (1999) lists and was found along the marine coastal zone of Algeria; it was not reported in recent times along the Algerian coast (Bakalem & Dauvin, Reference Bakalem and Dauvin1995; Grimes et al., Reference Grimes, Dauvin and Ruellet2009). Ruffo et al. (Reference Ruffo1982) reported this species in near shore brackish and freshwater habitats.
BIO-GEOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Table 2 gives the current status of the marine amphipod fauna inventory for the Algerian coast through the successive inventories. It accounts now for a total of 332 species including 17 Caprellidea, two Hyperiidea, and 313 Gammaridea of the 451 species recorded in the mid-1990s for the Mediterranean fauna (Ruffo et al., Reference Ruffo1998) and 509 in the last known inventory (Christodoulou et al., Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013). The new records concern mainly the Melitidae (six species) and the Caprellidae (five species). The samplings in new areas, on new habitats, such as hard bottoms and Posidonia oceanica meadows, and with new sampling techniques using divers for shallow hard bottoms, are the main causes of these additions. So, 18 records come from samples on hard bottoms, 13 on the Posidonia oceanica meadows, 12 on coarse sand and gravel and only three on mud bottom. Regarding the amphipod fauna of Algeria, to date the most diversified amphipod categories are: the Melitidae family (36 species), the Lysianassoidea superfamily (33), the Ampeliscidae family (29) and the Aoroidea superfamily (29). These four dominant categories account for 127 species (38% of the known species). Six other families account more than 10 species: Isaeidae (19), Caprellidae (16), Corophiidae (14), Oedicerotidae (14), Dexaminidae (11), Phoxocephalidae (11) and Hyalidae (10); they account a total of 95 species (29%). The ten more diversified families account for 67% of the total number of marine amphipod of the Algerian coast.
Table 2. Number of amphipod species per family along the Algerian coast according to Bakalem & Dauvin (Reference Bakalem and Dauvin1995), Grimes et al. (Reference Grimes, Dauvin and Ruellet2009) and this study, taking into account the Amphipoda ERMS classification before Lowry & Myers (Reference Lowry and Myers2013) publication.
*Pseudoniphargus africanus Chevreux, Reference Chevreux1901.
The number of Gammaridea marine amphipod (313 species) is at the same level of magnitude as that recorded along the French Mediterranean coast by Dauvin & Bellan-Santini (Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002): 299 species. However, it is lower than found around the Italian Peninsula (365 species (Ruffo, Reference Ruffo and Relini2010)). For the continental shelf, the Algerian Gammaridea amphipod diversity is higher than found for the Tunisian coast (133 species) (Zakhama-Sraieb et al., Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009), the eastern Libyan coast (125 species) (Ortiz & Petrescu, Reference Ortiz and Petrescu2007) or the Iberian Mediterranean coast (152 species) (Jimeno & Turon, Reference Jimeno and Turón1995; De-la-Ossa-Caretto et al., Reference De-La-Ossa-Carretero, Dauvin, Del-Pilar-Ruso, Gimenez-Casalduero and Sanchez-Lizaso2010). Dauvin et al. (Reference Dauvin, Grimes and Bakalem2013) suggest that the impoverishment pattern of amphipod fauna recorded along the Algerian coast from the west to the east continues to the east, including the Libyan coast. This is probably due to the disappearance of cold temperate Atlantic species from the western to the eastern sectors of the North Africa coast, which are not under the Atlantic water influence. Christodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013) observed a similar pattern and explained that the highest benthic amphipod species richness in the western Mediterranean Sea could be attributed to the fact that the influx of Atlantic species is initially limited to this large basin with a wide range of physico-chemical parameters, permitting the presence of both cold and warm water species. They also underlined that the high species number observed in the western Mediterranean could also be attributed to the extensive research efforts carried out in this area (Ruffo et al., Reference Ruffo1998).
Following the Zakhama-Sraieb et al. (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009) classification of species in geographical distribution (Table 3), the species are assembled in three main categories: group I (Atlantic–Mediterranean distribution), group II (Mediterranean endemic species) and group III (cosmopolitan species). The distribution takes also into account the last zoogeographical classification furnished in Christodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013). Among the 33 new recorded species along the Algerian coast, 14 (43%) are in the group II, 16 in the group I and the four last ones in group III. Among group I, four species, and among the group II, five species, are know only in the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea (Table 3). The others are distributed in the western and eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, except for Degocheirocratus spani, which is previously known only from the Adriatic Sea (Ruffo, Reference Ruffo and Relini2010); this is the first record for the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea.
Table 3. Geographical distribution in the Mediterranean Sea of the 33 new marine amphipods recorded along the Algerian coast (see the text for references). Group I, (Atlantic–Mediterranean distribution); Group II (Mediterranean species); and Group III (cosmopolitan species). W, western basin of the Mediterranean Sea.
Among the cosmopolitan species, Stenothoe gallensis is categorized like eight other marine amphipods as Lessepsian species by Zakhama-Sraieb & Charfi-Cheikhrouha (Reference Zakhama-Sraieb and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2010). But this species, like three others previously recorded along the Algerian coast (Bakalem & Dauvin, Reference Bakalem and Dauvin1995): Cymadusa filosa Savigny, 1816, Unciolella lunata Chevreux, Reference Chevreux1911 and Elasmopus pectenicrus (Bate, 1862) and considered as Lessepsian species, should no longer be considered as such, according to Chistodoulou et al. (Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013).
Table 3 gives the presence (+) or absence (−) of the 33 new amphipod records in the Mediterranean according to the biogeographical synthesis of Ruffo (Reference Ruffo1998), plus recent papers at the scale of a region or a country:
• Morocco (Ruffo et al., Reference Ruffo1998; Menioui & Ruffo, Reference Menioui and Ruffo1988; Menioui, personnal communication);
• Spain (Jimeno & Turon, Reference Jimeno and Turón1995; Conradi M. & López-Gónzalez, Reference Conradi and López-Gónzalez1999; De-La-Ossa-Carretero et al., Reference De-La-Ossa-Carretero, Dauvin, Del-Pilar-Ruso, Gimenez-Casalduero and Sanchez-Lizaso2010);
• France (Dauvin & Bellan-Santini, Reference Dauvin and Bellan-Santini2002);
• Italy (Ruffo, Reference Ruffo and Relini2010);
• Tunisia (Zakhama-Sraieb et al., Reference Zakhama-Sraieb, Sghaier and Charfi-Cheikhrouha2009);
• Lybia (Ortiz & Petrescu, Reference Ortiz and Petrescu2007);
• Greece (Stefanidou & Voultsiadou-Koukoura, Reference Stefanidou and Voultsiadou-Koukoura1995; Koukouras, Reference Koukouras2010; Christodoulou et al., Reference Christodoulou, Paraskevopoulou, Syranidou and Koukouras2013).
Twenty-nine of the new records are known for Italian waters and 19 in Greek waters, where there are intensive amphipod inventories. But only 14 species are shared with the Spain and France inventories. This comparison reveals also the lack of knowledge of amphipods from the Mediterranean Moroccan coast and probably also along the Libyan coast.
Apart for the Hyperiidea (only two species recorded along the Algerian coast, against 69 for Italian waters and 104 for the Mediterranean Sea), the inventory of marine amphipod species, with 313 Gammaridea and 17 Caprellidae (23 for the Italian waters), can be considered as more or less complete for the continental shelf of the Algerian coast. New amphipod records could be rare in the future for this coastal part of the Algerian waters; probably numerous amphipod records could be found in deeper bathyal and abyssal marine zones, which are insufficiently sampled in the southern part of the western Mediterranean Sea.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Lisa Ellen Spencer for help with the English version of this article, and two anonymous referees for their very useful comments on the first version of this paper.
